Pennsylvania Weighs New Tax on Natural-Gas Drilling

Lawmakers Eye Levy Amid $1.5 Billion Budget Gap

Lawmakers facing a $1.5 billion budget gap in Pennsylvania are considering imposing a new tax on natural-gas production, one of several drilling-boom states wrestling with how much to tax the maturing industry.

Republican Gov. Tom Corbett has said a so-called severance tax, which drillers pay on the value of the gas taken from a well, could kill much-needed jobs. But his position recently has begun to soften.